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Nationhttp://www.timesunion.com/news/us/article/Hero-astronaut-John-Glenn-to-lie-in-state-in-Ohio-10785754.php
article10785754
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — American hero-astronaut John Glenn will lie in state in Ohio's capitol building preceding a celebration of his life of military and government service and two history-making voyages into space.

The public viewing at the Ohio Statehouse and a memorial service at Ohio State University's Mershon Auditorium is planned for next week; the dates and times were being worked out Friday, said Hank Wilson of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. Statehouse officials meet Monday to authorize the public viewing.

Glenn, who died Thursday at age 95, was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 and the oldest man in space at age 77 in 1998. A U.S. Marine and combat pilot, he also served as a U.S. senator, representing Ohio, for more than two decades.

He is to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Tributes from the nation's leaders and others continued Friday.

"Throughout his life, Senator John Glenn embodied the right stuff," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement. "Our military in particular benefited from his courage and dedication ... But just as important as what John Glenn accomplished is how he accomplished it: with a combination of fierce determination and profound humility, and always with integrity."

Glenn was a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea and served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, among other Washington service.

In his eastern Ohio hometown of New Concord, the John and Annie Glenn Museum, usually available this time of year only for special tours and events, opened Friday with free admission.

Char Lyn Grujoksi, of Connersville, Indiana, stopped in after spotting a roadside sign for the museum while driving home from Pittsburgh and listening to a radio report on Glenn. The museum is in the astronaut's converted boyhood home. Grujoski and her daughter left impressed.

"He was a true American hero, someone who loved his country and served it," she said.

Glenn was born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio, and grew up in nearby New Concord. He wed his childhood sweetheart, Anna Margaret Castor, in 1943. The couple spent their later years between Washington and Columbus.

He and his wife served as trustees at their alma mater, Muskingum College, and Glenn also promoted his namesake School of Public Affairs at Ohio State, which houses his private papers and photographs.

His long political career, which included a failed 1984 run for the Democratic presidential nomination, enabled him to return to space in the shuttle Discovery in 1998, 36 years after going into orbit in Friendship 7 as part of Mercury, the first U.S. manned spaceflight program. He turned his Discovery mission into an educational moment about aging.

Schools, a space center and the Columbus airport are named after him.

"For generations, Americans cheered John Glenn as he soared into the heavens," former House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican and fellow Ohioan, said in a statement. "Now he has taken his place there for eternity, a well-earned reward for an American life well and heroically lived."

The officers were shot in March 2015 during one of many protests that followed Brown's August 2014 death. Both officers survived, but one left the department due to his injury, according to Webster Groves Lt. Andy Miller.

A St. Louis County jury deliberated about two hours Thursday night before finding Jeffrey Williams, 22, guilty of two counts of assault, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of shooting from a vehicle. Sentencing is in January. Online court records don't indicate the range of punishment.

Williams, who was in a car passing through the protest area when bullets struck a Webster Groves officer in the face and a St. Louis County officer in the shoulder, says he isn't the one who shot the officers. Williams' attorney, Jerryl Christmas, said an appeal is likely.

"He continues to maintain that the actual shooter was the back seat passenger in the car," Christmas said.

The officers were shot after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report critical of Ferguson's criminal justice system and municipal court.

Brown, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by white Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014. A St. Louis County grand jury ruled in November 2014 that there were no grounds for criminal charges against Wilson, who resigned that same month. The Justice Department also declined to press charges against Wilson.

The report prompted the resignation of Ferguson's police chief, Tom Jackson, and set off a renewed wave of protests outside police headquarters.

The two injured officers were among several officers still present as a protest appeared to be breaking up. Williams initially told investigators he fired the shots but was aiming at someone else.

Christmas said Williams was hesitant to tell the truth "for fear of retaliation of him or his family members."

U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Elizabeth Martinez confirmed in an email that Justice Department is looking into allegations of doctored police videos. Confirmation of the investigation came is the city of Albuquerque is making federal court-ordered reforms for its police department.

Several requests were made for a criminal investigation but Martinez declined further comment.

The city's police oversight board had called for either the FBI or New Mexico State Police to investigate the allegations.

The concern stems from comments by former police records custodian Reynaldo Chavez, who said in a nine-page sworn affidavit that the department trained certain units and command staff to edit videos of interactions with civilians beginning in 2013.

Chavez, who was fired in 2015, said videos were altered after two fatal shootings by police. His affidavit was filed as part of a lawsuit over one of those shootings.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry's administration said in late November that the city would have an independent investigator review the allegation.

City Councilor Pat Davis previously also called for an investigation.

Following a string of shootings, the U.S. Justice Department in 2014 released findings from a more than yearlong investigation into Albuquerque police that faulted officers for using unreasonable force with mentally ill people and others who could not comply with officers' commands.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Monday that as the chair of the state's Law Enforcement Academy Board, he has appointed a subcommittee to review and audit the policies of more than 190 of the state's police departments, sheriff's offices, and state law enforcement agencies.

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Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/russell-contreras .

There were no injuries in the blaze at the Richmond Yacht Basin, said Capt. Taylor Goodman of the Henrico Fire Department.

Fire officials estimate 12 to 15 boats were likely destroyed, Goodman said, along with part of a boat storage structure that burned.

"The problem is, so much of the structure over the boats has collapsed down on it, it's hard to tell" the extent of the damage, he said.

The blaze was first reported about 7 a.m. by a neighbor who also went to the scene and alerted people who were staying on their boats, Goodman said.

Mitch Romig, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was renting a houseboat at the marina for the night, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

"We heard someone running around saying the marina was on fire. So we got up and got off the boat as quickly as we could," he told the newspaper. "It was pretty big already (when we got off the boat). I don't know how many boats on the end were all already ... on fire — pretty big flames."

Images from the area show a plume of smoke that can be seen from several miles away.

Some of the vessels were floating downriver on fire late Friday morning. Five or six boats have sunk, marina President Max Walraven said.

A Henrico County fire boat was trapped by the burning dock and also sustained "quite a bit of damage," Goodman said.

It's not yet clear what started the blaze.

Goodman said he expects firefighters to be at the scene the rest of the day Friday and possibly into Saturday.

The marina is in southeastern Henrico near the Chesterfield border, about 10 miles from downtown Richmond.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:35:44 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/us/article/EPA-Tests-show-lead-in-some-East-Chicago-10785663.php
article10785663
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — Environmental Protection Agency officials say the federal agency's tests have discovered elevated levels of lead in drinking water in a northwestern Indiana city where contamination already has forced some residents to move.

The EPA on Thursday confirmed the lead levels in some homes in East Chicago. Acting regional administrator Robert Kaplan told The (Northwest Indiana) Times (http://bit.ly/2giorF2 ) that the results are preliminary and don't indicate if there is a widespread problem. He advised concerned residents to use a water filter.

Earlier this year, some residents of public housing were told to move because of high levels of lead and arsenic found at the complex, which is on the former site of a plant that melted lead and copper and is on the EPA's list of priority cleanup sites. The EPA said in November that it would conduct a number of pilot programs, including drinking water testing at properties at the Superfund site.

East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland wrote in a letter posted online and confirmed by his office that says the EPA told him 18 of the 45 homes tested had at least one water sample exceeding the standard of 15 parts per billion for lead in drinking water. Even low lead levels in children can reduce IQ, ability to pay attention and academic achievement.

In his letter, Copeland criticized the EPA for using what he called a "new, unproven (and) unaccredited test" and releasing the data without quality control procedures.

But the EPA doesn't fault the city for not knowing about the lead drinking water levels sooner, Kaplan said.

"This is not a test typically conducted by a water authority. No one is faulting the water authority," said Kaplan, adding that the testing isn't new and has been used elsewhere.

Copeland says he's asking for state and federal funding to replace all water infrastructure that may contain lead or violate water safety standards.

The dangers of lead contamination were highlighted this year by the crisis in Flint, Michigan, where old pipes leached lead into the city's drinking water beginning in 2014.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.nwitimes.com

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:30:35 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/The-Latest-Roof-s-lawyers-want-to-show-his-10785472.php
article10785472
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on the death penalty trial of Dylann Roof, who is charged with killing nine people during a Bible study in a Charleston church (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

Dylann Roof told FBI agents in his confession to killing nine black church members in Charleston last year the he planned to kill himself but changed his mind when no police officers showed up immediately after the shooting.

Roof was arrested the following day in North Carolina. His recorded confession was played Friday for jurors at his death penalty trial. It was the first time it has been publicly aired.

In the video, Roof says he chose the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in part because it's the oldest black church in the South. He also says he knew there would be a small group of blacks there.

His defense team has largely conceded his guilt and has instead tried to focus on sparing him the death penalty.

___

12:10 p.m.

Dylann Roof told FBI agents in his confession to killing nine black church members in Charleston last year that he had driven by the church before the shooting and asked about worship services.

In a video played at his death penalty trial Friday, Roof says he committed the slayings because he said blacks were raping white women and killing each other. He says what he did was much more "minuscule" than that.

The FBI questioning had not been aired publicly before Friday. In the video, Roof says he chose the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in part because it's the oldest black church in the South.

His defense team has largely conceded his guilt and has instead tried to focus on sparing him the death penalty.

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11:25 a.m.

Dylann Roof hesitated for only moments before confessing to killing nine black people at a Charleston church as an FBI agent questioned him less than a day after the shooting.

The videotaped interview with two FBI agents was shown Friday at Roof's death penalty trial. After standard questions about knowing his rights, FBI agent Michael Stansbury made a minute of small talk about Roof's family, where he went to school and what he did for a living.

When Stansbury asked Roof what happened last night, he paused for about 20 seconds. Then Roof said "Uh, I did it."

Roof was speaking calmly. A few minutes later he said he thought he killed about five people.

Prosecutors plan to show more of Roof's two-hour confession.

___

10:10 a.m.

Lawyers for Dylann Roof are telling the federal judge presiding over his death penalty trial they want to be able to present more evidence about his personality and state of mind.

The lawyers filed the motion Friday, and U.S. Judge Richard Gergel said he would take up the issue on a case-by-case basis before jurors began hearing testimony.

Roof's lawyers haven't contested that he shot and killed nine black people in a Charleston church in a racially motivated attack in June 2015.

The filing indicates Roof's lawyers want to include evidence that might convince jurors not to seek the death penalty before they have to leave the case. If he is found guilty, Roof has said he does not want his lawyers to represent him in the penalty phase of the trial.

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5:55 a.m.

Prosecutors in South Carolina say they plan to play Dylann Roof's recorded confession during his federal death penalty trial in the Charleston church shootings.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson says he plans to play the confession for jurors Friday as the trial enters a third day.

Roof is on trial on 33 federal counts, including hate crimes, in the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015. Prosecutors say Roof shot and killed nine black parishioners during Bible study there because he wanted to start a race war.

On Thursday, jurors saw stark 360-degree photographs of the crime scene in the church's fellowship hall. They saw the victims lying in pools of blood with bullets and ammunition magazines scattered around the scene.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:30:14 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/us/article/Rupert-Murdoch-s-21st-Century-Fox-to-buy-all-of-10785698.php
article10785698
NEW YORK (AP) — Rupert Murdoch may get all of European broadcaster Sky after all.

Sky said Friday that Murdoch's entertainment conglomerate 21st Century Fox has reached a preliminary deal to buy the rest of Sky for 10.75 pounds ($13.60) per share, the equivalent of about 11.2 billion pounds.

Fox already owns just over 39 percent of Sky, and the deal price values the entire broadcaster at 18.5 billion pounds. Shares in Sky jumped more than 25 percent in London on the news.

Sky said in a statement that some terms are pending and a definitive deal is still not certain.

Murdoch had previously tried to take full control of Sky but was sidelined in 2011 amid a phone-hacking scandal at his British newspapers that rocked the U.K. political and media establishment. The outcry has largely died down since then.

Taking control of Sky gives 21st Century Fox, which owns cable networks Fox News, FX and the Fox broadcast channel and a major Hollywood film studio, a distributor in Europe. Sky plc has 22 million customers in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy.

There has long been speculation that another takeover deal was coming after James Murdoch, Rupert's son and the CEO of 21st Century Fox, became chairman of Sky in April. He had been CEO of Sky, then known as BSkyB, from 2003 to 2007 and chairman from 2007 to 2012.

The pound's 16 percent drop against the dollar since June, when Britain voted to leave the European Union, would have made the U.K.-based Sky cheaper to acquire.

Sky shares jumped 26.7 percent to close at 10.00 pounds on the London Stock Exchange after Friday's announcement. Stock of 21st Century Fox dipped nearly 1 percent to $28.38 in midday trading.

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Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:25:08 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/Woman-charged-in-twin-s-death-in-Hawaii-due-in-10784748.php
article10784748
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A woman accused of killing her twin sister by driving their SUV off a cliff in Hawaii has cleared the way for her extradition from upstate New York.

Alexandria Duval waived her right to an extradition hearing in an Albany court on Friday morning. Duval's lawyer says she wants to get back to Hawaii and defend herself against a second-degree murder charge. She is expected to head to Hawaii in the next few weeks.

Authorities in Hawaii say Duval was driving an SUV in May with her sister, Anastasia, in the passenger seat when the vehicle crashed into a rock wall and plunged about 200 feet.

The 38-year-old traveled to upstate New York after an initial indictment was dismissed earlier this year.

She was arrested in Albany last month.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:24:20 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/Alabama-inmate-coughs-heaves-during-execution-10785144.php
article10785144
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama inmate coughed repeatedly and his upper body heaved for at least 13 minutes during an execution using a drug that has previously been used in problematic lethal injections in at least three other states.

Ronald Bert Smith Jr., 45, also appeared to move slightly during two tests meant to determine consciousness before he was finally pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m. Thursday — about 30 minutes after the procedure began at the state prison in southwest Alabama.

Alabama uses the sedative midazolam as the first drug in a three-drug lethal injection combination.

Oklahoma's use of midazolam as the first in a three-drug protocol was challenged after the April 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on a gurney, moaned and clenched his teeth for several minutes before prison officials tried to halt the process. Lockett died after 43 minutes. A state investigation into Lockett's execution revealed that a failed line caused the drugs to be administered locally instead of into Lockett's blood.

Ohio and Arizona have used midazolam as the first in a two-drug protocol. Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire repeatedly gasped and snorted over 26 minutes during his January 2014 execution. The state abandoned that method afterward and has yet to resume executions. Arizona halted executions after the July 2014 lethal injection of convicted killer Joseph Rudolph Wood, who took nearly two hours to die.

Smith and other Alabama inmates argued in a court case that the drug was an unreliable sedative and could cause them to feel pain, citing its use in problematic executions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a challenge by Oklahoma death row inmates that they had failed to prove that the use of midazolam was unconstitutional.

Smith was convicted of capital murder in the Nov. 8, 1994, fatal shooting of Huntsville store clerk Casey Wilson. A jury voted 7-5 to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment, but a judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Smith to death.

At the beginning of his execution, Smith heaved and coughed repeatedly, clenching his fists and raising his head.

A prison guard performed two consciousness checks before the final two lethal drugs were administered. In a consciousness test, a prison officer says the inmate's name, brushes his eyelashes and then pinches his left arm. During the first one, Smith moved his arm. He slightly raised his right hand after the second consciousness test.

The meaning of those movements will likely be debated. One of Smith's attorneys whispered to another attorney, "He's reacting," and pointed out the inmate's repeated movements.

The state prison commissioner said he did not see any reaction to the consciousness tests.

"We do know we followed our protocol. We are absolutely convinced of that," Alabama Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said Thursday evening.

When asked if the movements indicated there was a problem with the execution, Dunn said: "There will be an autopsy that will be done on Mr. Smith and if there were any irregularities those will hopefully be shown or borne out in the autopsy. I think the question is probably better left to the medical experts."

Dunn declined to say whether Smith was given an additional dose of midazolam after the first consciousness test.

Just before Thursday night's execution began, Smith replied, "No ma'am" when asked by the prison warden if he had any final words. A member of Wilson's family, who was not identified, witnessed the execution. The victim's family did not make a statement.

Wilson was pistol-whipped and then shot in the head during the robbery, court documents show. Surveillance video showed Smith entering the store and recovering spent shell casings from the bathroom where Wilson was shot, according to the record.

In overriding the jury's recommendation at the 1995 trial, a judge likened the slaying to an execution, saying Wilson had already been pistol-whipped into submission and Smith ignored his pleas for mercy. Wilson had a newborn infant at the time of his death.

"The trial court described Smith's acts as 'an execution style slaying.' Tonight, justice was finally served," Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said in a statement after the execution.

U.S. Supreme Court justices twice paused the execution as Smith's attorneys argued for a delay, saying a judge shouldn't have been able to impose the death penalty when a jury recommended he receive life imprisonment.

Four liberal justices said they would have halted the execution, but five were needed to do so.

Smith's attorneys had urged the nation's highest court to block the planned execution to review the judge's override.

Smith's lawyers argued a January decision that struck down Florida's death penalty structure because it gave too much power to judges raises legal questions about Alabama's process. In Alabama, a jury can recommend a sentence of life without parole, but a judge can override that recommendation to impose a death sentence. Alabama is the only state that allows judicial override, they argued.

"Alabama is alone among the states in allowing a judge to sentence someone to death based on judicial fact finding contrary to a jury's verdict," attorneys for Smith wrote Wednesday.

Lawyers for the state argued in a court filing Tuesday that the sentence was legally sound, and that it is appropriate for judges to make the sentencing decision.

Smith, the son of a NASA contract employee, became an Eagle Scout at 15, but his life spiraled downward because of alcoholism, according to a clemency request to Alabama's governor. He had a final meal of fried chicken and french fries and was visited during the day by his parents and son.

Alabama has been attempting to resume executions after a lull caused by a shortage of execution drugs and litigation over the drugs used.

The state executed Christopher Eugene Brooks in January for the 1993 rape and beating death of a woman. It was the state's first execution since 2013. Judges stayed two other executions that had been scheduled this year.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:15:54 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/education/article/Police-believe-former-chaplain-fatally-shot-10785720.php
article10785720
HEBRON, Maine (AP) — Police in Maine say it appears a former chaplain who worked with Roger Williams University students fatally shot his daughter before turning the gun on himself.

A neighbor discovered the bodies of 56-year-old Daniel Randall and 27-year-old Claire Randall on Thursday at their home in Hebron. Police say Daniel Randall's body was found on a porch with a shotgun nearby. Claire Randall's body was found in a bathroom.

Police say he was released from an alcohol treatment facility this week. The family moved to Maine this year from Rhode Island.

From 2009 to 2012, Roger Williams University paid Daniel Randall as a vendor to be an affiliated chaplain.

WJAR-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2gkYKsw) Randall was also a former pastor at First Congregational Church in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Autopsies were scheduled for Friday.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:14:22 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/POW-or-criminal-Appeals-court-to-hear-Taliban-10784963.php
article10784963
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — An attorney for a former Russian army officer sentenced to life in prison for leading a Taliban attack on U.S. forces says the man should have his convictions thrown out because he is a lawful enemy combatant.

Federal public defender Geremy Kamens told three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that Irek Hamidullin was is a "solider, not a criminal."

At issue in the highly unusual case is whether Hamidullin should have been considered a lawful enemy combatant and exempt from criminal prosecution. The judges repeatedly asked the prosecutor why Hamidullin wasn't treated as a prisoner of war.

The Russian military veteran was convicted of leading a Taliban attack on U.S. forces and sentenced to life in prison.

As a 9-year-old boy, he and his father were blinded in thick smoke, stumbling from their 15th-floor room into the hallway in "absolute chaos," then into a female guest's room, Hamil recalls.

"She was preparing to jump, but Daddy told her, 'No, not until we have to, we won't do that," he said.

The deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history killed 119 people 70 years ago this week and led to new and lasting fire safety standards for hotels and other public buildings. Now investigators are looking into violations of those standards in Oakland, California, where 36 people perished at a Dec. 2 concert inside the "Ghost Ship" warehouse.

"I bet they sweep their city and say 'no more of this,'" said Allen Goodwin, who co-authored the book "The Winecoff Fire: The Untold Story of America's Deadliest Hotel Fire."

"It moves it up the priority scale when lives are lost, and that's exactly what happened with the Winecoff fire on a global basis," Goodwin said.

Following the Oakland fire, local officials say they're looking to strengthen regulations for smoke alarms and exits. New regulations also are being considered, such as enhanced fire inspections and monitoring illegal events, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement this week.

Nationally, the Oakland fire is a reminder that fire threats continue to change, partly because of social media, and learning from the blazes can lead to stronger fire safety standards, National Fire Protection Association President Jim Pauley said in a statement.

"In Oakland, the changing occupancy of that building may have only been known to those who lived or worked there, not to the fire service or other officials," he said. "This is likely a scenario happening in other places around the country. The ability to attract large numbers of people to an unknown venue is easy through new ways of social media. Couple that with the rate of speed, things can go from bad to worse when there are blocked or not enough exits and lots of combustibles."

The Dec. 7, 1946, Atlanta inferno came near the end of a dreadful year for hotel fires. Months earlier, 61 people were killed in a Chicago hotel fire and 19 others perished in a hotel blaze in Dubuque, Iowa.

The burning hotels were huge news, Goodwin said. In the Atlanta fire, an amateur photographer captured the horror of a woman leaping from the building to escape the flames, an image that was distributed by The Associated Press and won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.

Cities across the nation began strengthening their fire codes after the Winecoff fire, Goodwin said, and President Harry S. Truman called for a national convention to find ways to prevent more deaths.

"The great hotel fires of last year again showed that we cannot afford to entrust our citizens' lives to unsafe buildings," Truman said in his opening address to The President's Conference on Fire Prevention in Washington, D.C., in 1947, according to documents from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Missouri.

The conference program urged attendees to "aggressively support this national war against the growing menace of fire."

The Winecoff fire led to new building codes requiring multiple fire exits. The Winecoff had only one staircase near the center of the building, which acted as a chimney to loft smoke and fire into the hotel's upper floors, according to documents from the Atlanta History Center.

Self-closing "fire doors" also came about after the Winecoff fire, which fed on air that was released when guests opened doors and transoms.

Hamil and his father managed to escape only because their top floor was nearly on a level with the Mortgage Guarantee Building next door. A custodian from that building placed a ladder across the alley to rescue him.

"I heard somebody say 'grab the ladder,' and I thought it was coming from the ground, but it wasn't. It was coming from straight across," Hamil said. "There were only three people on our floor who survived — my dad, myself and this lady from Mississippi. The rest of the people perished on that floor."

The Winecoff, built in 1913, remained standing after the fire but eventually became vacant and stayed that way for years. It underwent a multimillion dollar makeover a decade ago and reopened in 2007 as the Ellis Hotel.

This week Hamil drove from his home in Dawsonville, Georgia, into downtown Atlanta to mark the fire's anniversary.

Hamil had been at the Winecoff because he was tagging along with his father, an adviser to students who'd traveled to Atlanta for a mock legislative program at the state Capitol. Thirty of the youths perished in the blaze, which added to the nation's collective grief, Goodwin said.

"It shook the world, and it broke hearts all over Georgia," he said.

This week, Hamil, now 79, visited the 10th-floor room where four boys from the youth gathering died. He called it surreal. Now, he and others are remembering how catastrophic loss led to better safety standards.

"For 119 people to perish, to have something good come out of that is absolutely good," he said.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:07:56 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/world/article/Washington-state-suing-agrochemical-giant-over-10785007.php
article10785007
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington has become the first U.S. state to sue the agrochemical giant Monsanto over pervasive pollution from PCBs, the toxic industrial chemicals that have accumulated in plants, fish and people around the globe for decades. The company said the case "lacks merit."

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the lawsuit at a news conference in downtown Seattle Thursday, saying they expect to win hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars from the company.

"It is time to hold the sole U.S. manufacturer of PCBs accountable for the significant harm they have caused to our state," Ferguson said, noting that the chemicals continue to imperil the health of protected salmon and orcas despite the tens of millions of dollars Washington has spent to clean up the pollution. "Monsanto produced PCBs for decades while hiding what they knew about the toxic chemicals' harm to human health and the environment."

The suit arrives just days before Monsanto shareholders vote whether to accept a $57 billion buyout offer from Germany's Bayer. The extraordinary meeting of shareholders takes place just outside of St. Louis on Tuesday.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in many industrial and commercial applications, including in paint, coolants, sealants and hydraulic fluids. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, produced them from 1935 until Congress banned them in 1979.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs have been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including cancer in animals as well as effects on the immune, nervous and reproductive systems.

In a company release, Monsanto spokesman Scott S. Partridge said that the "case is experimental because it seeks to target a product manufacturer for selling a lawful and useful chemical four to eight decades ago that was applied by the U.S. government, Washington State, local cities, and industries into many products to make them safer. PCBs have not been produced in the U.S. for four decades, and Washington is now pursuing a case on a contingency fee basis that departs from settled law both in Washington and across the country. Most of the prior cases filed by the same contingency fee lawyers have been dismissed, and Monsanto believes this case similarly lacks merit."

In response to a similar lawsuit filed last year by the city of Spokane, Washington, Monsanto said a previous incarnation of the company produced the PCBs, which it said "served an important fire protection and safety purpose."

"PCBs sold at the time were a lawful and useful product that was then incorporated by third parties into other useful products," Charla Lord, a company spokeswoman, wrote. "If improper disposal or other improper uses created the necessity for clean-up costs, then these other third parties would bear responsibility for these costs."

Several other cities — including Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Long Beach and San Diego, California — have also sued Monsanto over PCB pollution, the Attorney General's Office said. Those cases are ongoing.

Ferguson, a Democrat, pointed to internal Monsanto documents that show the company long knew about the danger the chemicals posed. In 1937, an internal memo said testing on animals showed "systemic toxic effects" from prolonged exposure by inhaling PCB fumes or ingestion. In 1969, a company committee on PCBs noted, "There is too much customer/market need and selfishly too much Monsanto profit to go out."

"There is little probability that any action that can be taken will prevent the growing incrimination of specific polychlorinated biphenyls ... as nearly global environmental contaminants leading to contamination of human food (particularly fish), the killing of some marine species (shrimp), and the possible extinction of several species of fish eating birds," a committee memo said.

Nevertheless, Monsanto told officials around the country the contrary. In a letter to New Jersey's Department of Conservation that year, Monsanto wrote, "Based on available data, manufacturing and use experience, we do not believe PCBs to be seriously toxic."

Ferguson said that infuriated him. He noted that his great-grandparents settled along Washington's Skagit River in the late 19th century. The Skagit was one of more than 100 water bodies in the state listed in the lawsuit as being polluted with PCBs.

"That river, the Skagit River, which my family depended on to a great degree in the 19th century as they homesteaded here, is now contaminated by PCBs, as are the fish," he said. "That makes me mad."

Ferguson said his office had been in touch with counterparts in other states, but it remained unclear if other states would follow Washington's lead in suing the company.

Washington's lawsuit seeks damages on several grounds, including product liability for what it described as Monsanto's failure to warn about the danger of PCBs; negligence; and even trespass, for injuring the state's natural resources.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:02:43 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/crime/article/Prosecutors-to-play-confession-in-church-shooting-10784959.php
article10784959
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Dylann Roof hesitated for about 20 seconds when an FBI agent asked him what he was doing on the night nine black church members were killed during Bible study.

"Uh, I did it," Roof said in a video recording of the questioning, which was played for the public for first time Friday at his death penalty trial. After waiving his rights and about a minute of small talk, the agents pressed Roof gently — asking him exactly what he did. He paused another 30 seconds or so.

"I killed them," Roof said. As he talked more, he chuckled and said, "Well, I killed them, I guess."

Only the first few minutes of Roof's confession was shown before the court took a break. The rest of the blurry video will be shown throughout the third day of testimony. Roof is accused of opening fire inside a basement room of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015, just as members of the Bible study closed their eyes for a final prayer.

In an opening statement earlier this week, assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson said Roof not only confessed, but gave chilling details on his preparation and his motivation for the attack when he spoke to law enforcement.

There were hints about that in the first minutes of the confession. Roof told the agents he didn't start firing as soon as he entered.

"I was sitting there thinking about whether I should do it or not. That's why I sat there for 15 minutes. I could have walked out," Roof said.

Church surveillance videos indicate Roof was inside closer to 45 minutes. A survivor testified that he was given a Bible and a study guide to follow along with the prayer group.

Roof, as he has for much of the trial, hardly looked up as the confession played.

FBI agent Michael Stansbury said he pushed Roof to confess so quickly because he sensed he wanted to talk.

"He was calm. He wasn't upset," Stansbury said.

Roof is charged with 33 federal counts, including hate crimes. His defense has largely conceded that he committed the slayings and has instead focused on trying to spare him the death penalty. On Friday, they asked the judge to allow them to present more evidence about his personality and state of mind, and U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said he would take up the issue on a case-by-case basis before jurors begin hearing testimony from a witness.

If jurors find Roof guilty, they will decide whether he should be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison. Roof has said he wants to represent himself during that penalty phase of the trial.

The only other glimpse into Roof's motivation is a 2,000-word statement he posted online on the afternoon of the shooting and 60 photos he carefully picked from more than 1,000 he had taken, Richardson said.

In Roof's essay, he said he thought blacks were stupid, inferior to whites and violent. Among other things, he wrote, "we have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me."

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the shooting happened last June. It happened in June 2015.

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Fri, 9 Dec 2016 17:02:23 UThttp://www.timesunion.com/news/us/article/Snow-freezing-rain-hit-Portland-treacherous-10783976.php
article10783976
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A wintry mix of snow, ice and rain showered fear and excitement in much of the Northwest, a region that typically lives under a cloud of mist and drizzle.

Seattleites woke up to rare winter powder Friday after an overnight weather system brought 1 to 3 inches of snow to the city and other parts of Washington state.

Some schools canceled classes, while others including Seattle Public Schools have delayed school start time because of the snow.

Strong winds toppled trees, and Portland General Electric reported about 22,000 customers in neighboring Clackamas County lost power before it was mostly restored, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Forecasters expected a couple inches of snow to stick to the ground, followed by freezing rain, heightening concerns about a treacherous commute in the region that does not use salt on slippery roads. The forecast calls for just rain eventually Friday morning.

On Thursday evening, Portland transit service said on Twitter that two light rail lines were disrupted because of ice on overhead power wires. At least one line of bus service had been canceled, and others were traveling, many with chains, on snow routes.

Freezing rain was also hitting Vancouver, Washington, and over 3 inches of snow had fallen at the state Capitol in Olympia by Thursday evening.

Many school districts canceled classes before the first flurries fell. Some will be closed Friday and others are opening late.

Joey Moffenbeier, 12, went sledding with some friends on a hill at the high school in Lake Oswego, a Portland suburb.

"We've been waiting all day for the snow and it finally started, so we decided to come out," he said. "We've been getting some good rides in but we need a little bit more to make it really good."

Some children, unaccustomed to snow, weren't wearing gloves and had only sweatshirts on in temperatures that dipped below freezing — but they didn't let that stop the fun.

A group of older boys played soccer on a school's field. They were joined by some friends and the soccer snow match turned into a snowball fight.

"We're just out here having fun. It's so uncommon for us to have snow here," Colin Hardy, 15, said. "The snow day got called early, too, so we were all ready for a day off."

As the day wore on, the fat flakes of snow transitioned into a mix of snow and freezing rain and driving became treacherous. Cars crept along roads and some spun out as they tried to navigate curves.

Portland city government also closed, as did federal court, the zoo and state offices in several counties.

Higher snowfall totals were expected in the Coast Range and Columbia River Gorge.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Cullen said as much as 10 inches of snow could fall in the Gorge, particularly from Cascade Locks toward Hood River.

Wintry weather also swept through Central Oregon.

In Bend, snow fell steadily and ducks swam among ice floes in the Deschutes River.

The National Weather Service forecast new snow accumulation of up to 8 inches in Central Oregon.

The Columbian reported that two people were injured when trees fell into houses — one in Vancouver and another in Camas.